pope ben, i'm chelsea

torino.
5.2.2010
uhhhh long post


for some reason
i have a problem of bringin' the rain
i guess it enjoys {following} me


walking around the streets of
northern italy


bella. bella. bella.


inside this cathedral

i know i will do an {insufficient} job

describing my past weekend to you readers

the experience, to say the least

was amazing

i tried to google & use the thesaurus

for words that exceeded the meaning of "amazing"

but {nothing} was good enough

-----------------------------------

i took a weekend trip to torino italy

the main objective: to see the pope

il papa --- in italian

mission accomplished

he was speaking to the youth

there were 25,000 people in the square

& in the surrounding streets

they had jumbo screens

& speakers everywhere for all to hear

------------------------------------

one of the best parts of my day:

the {hour} leading up to the pope's appearance

in order to keep the crowd occupied:

<> there were several youth groups and performers from all around the world

<> they were singing and performing to common church songs

<> all the youth were dancing and singing along

<> i was meeting young adults from all over this globe

<> it was one huge party (church party) haha

**the last song that was sung before the pope arrived was

--when you believe--

from the prince of egypt

now i'm going to try to tell this part the best i can

if you get goose bumps then i {did} a good job

haha if not well then you just had to be there

- so this girl probably 16 started the song

she sang in italian

she did the 1st verse & then the chorus

beautiful even though it was in a different language

everyone knew the tune so they knew the song

- then for the 2nd verse, this american lady sang

she was black &had the most powerful voice

she performed her part in english

- and then the part that is in hebrew

"a-shi-rah, a-shi-rah....."

sung by a little girl

- then the big finale chorus came

& i think all 25,000 people knew the words & joined in

------------------------------

"there can be miracles

when you believe

though hope is frail

it's hard to kill.

who knows what miracles

you can achieve

when you believe

somehow you will

now you will

you will when you believe"

------------------------------------------

it was a moment

we all shared one of {those} moments

i heard every language joining in to sing about one great thing

miracles

everyone knew the words to this song in {their} language

the girl on stage: hebrew

the four young boys next to me: italian

the couple in front of me: french

angel and sonsoles (the parents i live with): spanish

me: english

i can't believe i didn't record it

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

i will forever be sad

-----------------------------------

after the performances were finished it was time for pope benedict to arrive

the pope rode from a mile away

through the streets of torino

lined with people- babies to the elderly

all in attendance

he rides in s-t-y-l-e

.the pope mobile.

{informal} name for the vehicle used by the pope when making outdoor public appearances

it is a glass box on a car

bullet proof

so that was the one thing between me and the cute old guy

---BUT---

it was sweet

we were inside the square

we were lucky to get in

where the live music was

where we had a good view of the pope while speaking

AND he drove directly by on his way to the stage

we were right against the barricades

we are talking front row

it was crazy

{i have a better photo where he is looking & waving right at us}

on a different camera, so i will post it indvidually soon

everyone was raising their flags

or banners

we were giving these upon arrival into the square

------------------------------------------

i don't know why i thought his talk would be in english

ah hahahahaha i am still laughing about it

it was in .italian.

& though i didn't understand what he was saying

i felt the vibe he was sending out to the young adults

so........

when i got back to geneva

i read his speech online

i loved it

so here i am

after a day in the {pouring} rain

wet. frizzy. hair.

but with this sweet bandana that they gave all the youth

it says "youth and the pope" in italian

what another great memory to add to my list

xoxo

with love from europe